Process for transferring a design to a surface

ABSTRACT

A PROCESS FOR INCORPORATING A DECAL AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A COATING SURFACE WITHOUT THE DECAL ADDING ANY APPRECIABLE THICKNESS OR UNEVENNESS TO THE COATING SURFACE IS DISCLOSED WHICH COMPRISES APPLYING A PRINTED DECAL ON A SOLVENT SOLUBLE POLYMERIC BASE AND APPLYING OVER THE DECAL A CLEAR COATING CONTAINING A SOLVENT FOR THE BASE, WHEREIN THE BASE IS DISSOLVED BY THE SOLVENT AND THE DECAL IS INCORPORATED INTO THE CLEAR COATING.

United States Patent 3,553,044 PROCESS FOR TRANSFERRING A DESIGN T O ASURFACE John W. McDermott, Louisville, Ky., assignor to CelaneseCoatings Company, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Filed July 27,1967, Ser. No. 656,362 Int. Cl. B32b 31/12 U.S. Cl. 156-155 3 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for incorporating a decal as anintegral part of a coating surface without the decal adding anyappreciable thickness or unevenness to the coating surface is disclosedwhich comprises applying a printed decal on a solvent soluble polymericbase and applying over the decal a clear coating containing a solventfor the base, wherein the base is dissolved by the solvent and the decalis incorporated into the clear coating.

This invention relates to a unique process for decorating surfaces. Moreparticularly, the invention is directed to a process for incorporating adecal as an integral part of the coating surface without the decaladding any appreciable thickness or unevenness to the surface.

There are numerous methods known for transferring designs from decals tothe desired surfaces. In most of the known techniques, an additionalthick layer of the decal protrudes beyond the surface layer, destroyingcontinuity and beauty of the overall effect. Many of the difiiculties ofapplying an additional layer decal are described in U.S. Pat 2,700,629.

A process has been discovered which avoids most of the difficulties thatare associated with the transfer of designs. The process of thisinvention utilizes the technique of incorporating a decal or designwhich is usually made up of at least one color as an integral part ofthe coating surface by printing the decal or design onto asolvent-soluble base, attaching the decal and base onto the desiredsurface to be designed and applying a permanent clear finish coatcontaining a solvent for solubilizing the base containing the printeddecal. The solvent in the finish coat will dissolve the base into thecoating at the same time incorporating the design undisturbed into thecoating. Thus, the design becomes part of the coating and the additionalthickness of the design is not available to destroy the continuity ofthe coating.

The solvent-soluble base containing the printed decal or design-bearingsheet used in practicing the method of the present invention can be madeof polymeric materials such as polystyrene, polyethylene, or the like,or fabrics made of rayon, acetate, silk screen, or the like. Theimportant aspect of the design-bearing sheet is that it is soluble insolvents at least at room temperature or below in common solvents suchas aromatic aliphatic hydrocarbons, ketones, esters and ether e.g.,Cellosolve products such as 2-ethoxyethanol, 2-ethoxyethyl acetate andthe like, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetone, xylene, mineral spirits andthe like, which are utilized in the finish coat.

The design i.e., a decorative or graphic art work is printed onto a basewhich is solvent soluble. The material used to print the decal must besubstantially insoluble in the substance to dissolve the base on whichthe decal is placed. These materials are well known in the art.

A wide variety of surfaces can be decorated by means of the novel methodof the invention. Including among such surfaces are, among others,poured concrete; concrete block; cinder block; stucco; brick; stone;drywall; cement plaster; putty coat plaster; gypsum plaster; sandfinished plaster; sheet rock; cement-asbestos board; metal; wood;hardboard; particle board; and the like.

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Where the surface being decorated is irregular or open textured, as isthe case with, for example, cinder block or stucco surfaces, it shouldbe surfaced with a suitable filler coat to bridge or fill surfaceopenings or voids prior to the application of the decal. Among the manymaterials which can be used for this purpose, the portland cement basecompositions disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,851 toMadison, which generally contain portland cement and selected aggregatesin a non-aqueous, resinous binder, are particularly suitable. Inaddition to these, however, any filler material or composition whichadheres to the surface being decorated and is substantially insoluble inthe solvent used to dissolve the thermoplastic, solvent soluble portionof the decal can be used.

The filler coat is generally best applied by brush, in order to force itinto the surface irregularities. In some cases, however, it is alsodesirable to use a roller after the brush application to work out thebrush marks.

When desired, the filler coat can contain pigments or other colorantswhich will furnish an additional decorative effect to a decal appliedthereon. Similarly, where no filler coat is necessary, or even when onehas been used, the surface being decorated can be painted by brushing,spraying, roller coating, or the like, with conventional paints orcolorants, or otherwise decorated, e.g., by staining in the case ofwood, prior to applying the decal.

It is preferred that any filler coat, paint layer, or the like appliedto the surface being decorated be allowed to dry to at least a tackystate prior to positioning the decal thereon.

The procedure of applying the decal to the surface being decorated anddissolving the solvent soluble portion of the decal, leaving thedecorated portion thereof adhering to the now decorated surface, can becarried out in any of several ways. First of all, the surface beingdecorated, whether uncoated or coated with filler, paint or the like,can be brushed, sprayed, rolled, or the like with the substance whichwill dissolve the thermoplastic, solvent soluble portion of the decal,and the decal then applied. If necessary, more solvent orsolvent-containing material can then be applied over the decal tocomplete the dissolution of the non-decorative portion thereof. Thedecal can also be applied directly to the dry surface and then contactedwith the solvent or solvent-containing material. In this latter case,either the surface being decorated or the decal, on the side thereofwhich will contact the surface being decorated, can if desired be coatedwith an adhesive which will hold the decal on said surface at leastprior to its being contacted with the solvent or solvent-containingsubstance.

Parenthetically, it should be noted at this point that a decal bearing adecoration or graphic art work on one side only can be positioned witheither its decorated side or the other side in contact with the surfacebeing decorated, the sole determining factor being the particular designappearance desired, and also that both sides of the decal can, ifdesired, be decorated, thus providing greater flexibility of design aswell as case of application of complex designs to the decal.Furthermore, special effects can be produced by using two or moredecorated decals, one over the other, with solvent or asolventcontaining substance being applied under the first decal, overeach decal, over the last decal only, or in any combination of thesepossibilities.

When the decal is only contacted with a material which consistsessentially of solvent for the solvent soluble portion thereof, thedecorative portion of the decal should contain material which willadhesively unite with the surface being decorated.

The coating which is applied to the decal can be any coating whichprovides a permanent clear finish. The important element in the coatingis the solvent which will dissolve the base on which the decal isprinted. Typical of the coatings which can be used are those describedin US. Pat. 3,050,480. These coatings contain epoxidized animal,vegetable or marine oil in combination with a poly-base acid in a mutualsolvent. Typical of the epoxidized compounds include, among others:methyl linoleate; :pentaerythritol oleate; diethylene glycol linoleate;octanol linseed fatty ester acid ester; medium oil soya acid modifiedalkyl resin; epoxidized soybean oil; and the like. Typical of thepolybasic acids, include: chlorendic acid; monochloro phthalic acid,tetrachlorophthalic acid; dibasic acid reactive vinyl copolymers ofmaleic and fumaric adducts; copolymerized acrylic acid and the like. Thesolvents which can be used include among others: aromatic or aliphatichydrocarbons, ketones esters and ethers, e.g., such as acetone; xylene;toluene; diethyl carbitol; methyl ethyl ketone; methyl isobutyl ketoneand the like.

The following example will further illustrate the process of theinvention without limiting the same:

EXAMPLE On a polystyrene sheet, the name Devoe is printed in red ink.The red ink is insoluble to a blend of 2-ethoxyethanol-xylene solvent. Awall composed of cinder blocks is :painted with a paint formula asdescribed in US. 3,063,851. The paint is permitted to dry to a tackyconsistency such that the polystyrene sheet containing the name Devoe isplaced at the desired location without the use of additional adhesives.The paint layer is permitted to dry completely with decal in place.After the paint film is dried and cured completely, a permanent clearfinish coat consisting of epoxidized soybean nonphthalic alkyd resin andchlorendic acid in a blend of 2- ethoxyethanol-xylene solvent as:prepared in Example VI of US. Pat. 3,050,480, is applied over thedecal. The blend of Z-ethoxyethanol-xylene solvent dissolves thepolystyrene sheet into the film forming layer while the red inklettering of Devoe remains in place providing a continuous film with theprinting as described becoming an integral part of the film.

In a similar manner as the example above, any type of design can beutilized to decorate a surface wherein a permanent clear finish coatcontaining a compatible solvent system for the coating but the solventdissolves the solvent soluble base of the decal when the coating isapplied but does not effect the design itself.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrativeof preferred embodiments of the invention of which many variations maybe made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the followingclaims without departing from the spirit thereof.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A process for incorporating a decal as an integral part of a coatingon a surface which consists essentially of:

(A) Printing said decal onto a solvent soluble polymeric base;

(B) Attaching said printed base to said surface; and

(C) Applying over said printed base a clear coating containing thesolvent for said base; wherein said base is dissolved by said solventand said decal is incorporated into said clear coating.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said base is formed of polystyrene andsaid solvent is a mixture of Z-ethoxyethanol and xylene.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein said clear coat comprises a mixture ofan epoxidized soybean oil and chlorendic acid.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,872,131 '8/1932 Ensminger156-237 2,271,491 1/ 1942 Rathke 156-23 6 3,334,003 8/1967 Edwards156-236X LELAND A. SEBASTIAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

ll763; l56-236, 237; 16l4l3

